Continental Resources: Searching for geysers on the American continent

Operating expenses are under control. Further, light institutional coverage places CLR in the "off-the-radar screen" category - - an advantageous category for investors, if the company performs well, moving forward. The Reuters FY 2007/FY 2008 EPS consensus estimates for CLR are $1.46 to $1.88.

The risks? CLR has a short public history - - its i.p.o. occurred in May 2007 - - hence even though it's in the preferred oil/natural gas sector, its shares are not for low/moderate risk investors. CLR has also just completed an impressive run-up, and the stock is overbought short-term, hence a safer entry point would be to wait for a pull-back to the $20-22 range. However, keep in mind there's no guarantee that CLR will pull-back to that level.

Stock Analysis: Continental Resources is a high-risk stock not suitable for moderate risk or low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than 2 years should be rewarded from CLR's shares. Sell/Stop Loss if you were to purchase shares in this company: $13.

Disclosure: Lazzaro has no positions in stocks. In addition to private real estate holdings, he owns corporate and municipal bonds, and cash certificates of deposit.